Carmelo Anthony commented on the ongoing tensions between players and referees in the league. The way of communication has changed and the Refs have reacted thinner than before. This is the reason for the current problems.
Anthony compared the situation at ESPN with the referees 15 years ago when he came into the league. There used to be a different dialogue between the refs and players – whether that was good or bad. It was like you could blow off some steam as a player. The Refs listened to it and then just said,’ Okay, that’s enough, let’s move on.’ And that’s all done.'”
Today this is different:”It takes much less to upset the Refs. If you look at someone wrong, there’s a technical. If you say the wrong word, there’s a technical. That’s the difference from back then – the communication with the Refs and the relationship with them.”
Everyone makes mistakes, including the Refs. They used to come to you after the game or while they were at it and say,’ I missed the whistle, I misjudged it,’ and then everything was fine. Today, however, there is no communication.”